Les Emigré(e)s Pt. II: Expat Natural Winemakers in France
Four new podcasts with expat winemakers in Ardèche, Anjou, Provence, and Gaillac: Stephana Nicolescou, Kenji Hodgson, Stephen Roberts, and Oriane Rosner.
Bonjour from Beaune! I’ll be spending spring and summer here - and perhaps rather longer - as I attempt to narrow down suitable options for an affordable place1 to raise a child among a more or less like-minded community in France. As I enthuse these days to anyone who’ll listen, France’s natural wine communities are exceptionally welcoming, thanks, probably, to the reliable joys of commiseration in the face of widespread misunderstanding.
It’s a dynamic familiar to the subjects of the podcast series at hand, LES EMIGRE(E)S, which concerns expatriate natural winemakers throughout France.
Back in Part I, we heard from émigré vignerons in Burgundy, the Beaujolais, the Languedoc, Auvergne, and the Jura. Part II includes conversations with:
CHICAGO-born ARDECHE vigneronne STEPHANA NICOLESCOU, best known, since 2017, as the better half of DOMAINE ANDREA CALEK, where she keeps busy FLYING LIGHT AIRCRAFT, preparing for a potential ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, and making the occasional MICRO-CUVEE of her own. Listen here. (No paywall.)
VANCOUVER’s own KENJI HODGSON, who since 2010 has copiloted acclaimed ANJOU estate VINS HODGSON with Japanese wife and collaborator MAI SATO; the couple will soon release their FIRST WINE from a newly-acquired parcel in the FAMED LIEU-DIT of LES NOELS DE MONTBENAULT. Listen here.
ILLINOIS native PROVENCE vigneron STEPHEN ROBERTS, who left a job at UNESCO to run his husband’s family estate on the peninsula of SAINT TROPEZ, which he converted to BIODYNAMICS while engaged in a QUIXOTIC QUEST to produce PALE NATURAL ROSE that will please his MOTHER-IN-LAW. Listen here.
NEW YORK-raised GAILLAC négociant ORIANE ROSNER of ORI VIN, who debuted in just 2021 after London’s COVID LOCKDOWNS led her to relocate to the French SOUTHWEST, where she apprenticed herself to a nearby BIODYNAMIC estate and set about conducting ADDITIVE-FREE UNSULFITED VINIFICATION on native grape varieties. Listen here.
The plan is to continue this podcast series on and off until I’ve featured someone from every wine region of France. But I’ll inaugurate various new themed podcast series in the meantime. Keep a look out in the near future for new reports from Copenhagen, the Beaujolais, and beyond.
Lastly, here is an upcoming occasion where I’ll be signing copies of The World of Natural Wine and offering pours of my own peculiar wines from abandoned vines:
April 21st: BUFÉ (Lyon, FR) - A book signing and wine tasting with my friend Mathieu Kochen (of Odessa Comptoir and Odessa L’Ecole) in the kitchen. From 4pm onwards.
Many thanks, as always, for reading! And for listening!
FURTHER LISTENING & READING
NDP Podcast Series III: Les Emigré(e)s - Expat Natural Winemakers in France, Part I
NDP Podcast Series II: Contemporary Paris Natural Wine, Part I
NDP Podcast Series II: Contemporary Paris Natural Wine, Part II
NDP Podcast Series I: Paris Natural Wine Lifers, Part I
NDP Podcast Series I: Paris Natural Wine Lifers, Part II
Part of me anticipates a slow drift ever further south, as my definition of “affordable” continues to evolve with my fortunes as a writer.